Are Old School Action Movies Dead?

[Gianakin_]

Not Lucas-y enough. You can do better, I know it.

 

[dude stannis]

"I rescued you from the fire Jean-Claude. Not with my arms, but with the fire of my own heart!"

 

[Gianakin_]

That's so disturbing it actually works.

 

[combocaz]

I say kill Dolph, Arnold, Sly and Bruce in Expendables 3, have an Expendables sequel trilogy with Statham, Diesel, The Rock, Gina Carano and Scott Adkins.

Scott Adkins is a no go. Statham put his head through a chopper blade.

 

[dude stannis]

I doubt audiences would recognise him if he where to play an American or an Englishman.

 

[Gianakin_]

With no facial hair. And blonde.

 

[dude stannis]

Nah, just his normal buzz cut.

 

[Gianakin_]

Damn you for depriving me of the Silva of that franchise.

 

[jmc]

I actually thing the characters nowadays for action films are far more engaging than in the 80/90's.

 

[dude stannis]

Damn you for depriving me of the Silva of that franchise.

We already got the Silva of that franchise.

 

[Gianakin_]

I thought that was the Grant of that franchise.

 

[-JKR-]

I don't think that old school action movies are dead. The problem is that they're generic and bland nowadays. No ideas, no creativity. People in the biz are probably convinced that action alone warrants an 'old school action movie.' But look at the most popular flicks from the 1980's and 1990's, they were exciting concepts, brought to the screen with vitality and expertise. The producers, writers and (especially) directors (John McTiernan, James Cameron, Paul Verhoeven, Richard Donner, Tony Scott, etc.) knew EXACTLY what they were doing, and what they wanted to achieve. Nowadays they slap music video and commercial directors onto those pics, who most of the time have no real vision, except for trying to break into the biz.

To me the best old school action movies (which are disguised as comic book movies) are Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Think about it. They look and feel like old school action.

 

[Project862006]

imo films like taken,craig bond films and the bourne films killed the old school action genre when we have actors like damon,craig, and neeson doing bad ass action and also bringing their respective characters to life and not just playing themselves like arnie and sly do these days it is easy to see why their movies are flopping we have better actors doing better action scenes

 

[-JKR-]

imo films like taken,craig bond films and the bourne films killed the old school action genre when we have actors like damon,craig, and neeson doing bad ass action and also bringing their respective characters to life and not just playing themselves like arnie and sly do these days it is easy to see why their movies are flopping we have better actors doing better action scenes

Well, that's nothing new ever since 1987, when (then television star) Bruce Willis was offered $5 million to star in the action pic "Die Hard".

 

[Jake Cassidy]

^ 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon, as well.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I am starting to fear that the old school action movie is dead. I mean, I have only seen The Last Stand out of the 3 movies focused on, but I loved it, it was exactly the type of movie that would have been a big hit in the 80's, and the minimal CGI was VERY refreshing in this day and age.

But its obvious the crowds just dont go for that anymore, as others have said, Craig's Bond, and before that Damon's Bourne introduced audiences to an action man that could kick ass, yet show sensitivity, weakness and emotion. You didnt really get that in the 80's, yet people are lapping it up now.

If the old school action movie does die, I for one will be going the cinema a lot less over the coming years.

 

[Bruce Malone]

The Last Stand, Parker and Bullet to the Head didn't have a hook to them. You can Redbox the DTV equivalents to these for cheaper.

The Tomb has a hook. Arnie and Sly throwing down in a supermax prison they have to escape. Ten has a hook, an ensemble cast getting murdered one by one, it's a David Ayer film too, he's a big name these days.

Ehh i'd say "the last stand" had arguably as big or a bigger hook than "The Tomb". You have arnie in his first starring role in 10 years as a bad-ass sheriff of a town that is the only thing stopping a drug kingpin on the run from the FBI from escaping to mexico.

Not to mention it didn't get terrible reviews which is a big deal for these types of action movies. It had everything going for it but...audiences didn't care.

I always figured bullet was going to bomb but i was quite surprised the last stand did.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^Same here, I thought TLS would do very well, at least making its modest budget back domestically, but no, not even close. The movie got decent reviews and was the return of a major star, very surprising.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Full agreement. Charm goes a long way, and it's insanely hard to replicate. A film either has it or it doesn't. 'Back in the day' stuff has it in spades.

And the early 90's also a bunch of wannabe's getting into the act too like Brian Bosworth, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Jeff Speakman, even Eric Roberts was dong a few low budget actioners.

But the funniest is Sasha Mithchell who played dimwit Cody on the sitcom Step By Step also starred in a string of Kickboxer martial arts movies.

 

[terry78]

Basically your badass can't just be badass, he has to be intellectual and savvy to boot. And kind of an...don't wanna say emo, but you know.

 

[Mace Dolex]

The days of 'roided musclehead action guys are long gone, why do you think Vin Diesel can only have success when he's in an ensemble cast?

 

[Hunter Rider]

One of the first changes in the action movie was in the mid 90's when Cage, Travolta, Cruise and other guys known more for dramas and thrillers started making summer blockbuster action films, it was seen in some ways as an upgrade on the 80's method of casting the big muscled look over acting talent.

I wonder if they made an error in the marketing of the Last Stand by having Arnie's age be a part of it, we all know he's getting on in years but I'm not sure audiences want that to be made so apparent.

Full agreement. Charm goes a long way, and it's insanely hard to replicate. A film either has it or it doesn't. 'Back in the day' stuff has it in spades.

If films manage to have an aura about them, in marketing and hype, that's a start.

There seems to be a quandry of either trying too hard or not trying enough.

Anyway, old school never dies. If I've got it on a disc it's forever.

Definitely, I think now films are as you say trying to capture that essence and you can't, you have to create your own vibe for your era.

Yes, these films will live forever and in crisp HD.

I don't think Old School Action movies are dead, but just the stars' popularity. I think another problem with these stars is that they're on the wrong end of "you know what you're getting" with these guys.

Do you think you can have a summer full of movies where the action is mostly real stunts, the heroes are cops or military/agents and the threat is not world changing? I just think now the essence of the McClane and Rambo type of action movie has been diluted into a lot of B movie stuff that drops in either the Jan/Feb or Sept/Oct slots.

And the early 90's also a bunch of wannabe's getting into the act too like Brian Bosworth, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Jeff Speakman, even Eric Roberts was dong a few low budget actioners.

Stone Cold was awesome!

 

[Mace Dolex]

I wonder if they made an error in the marketing of the Last Stand by having Arnie's age be a part of it, we all know he's getting on in years but I'm not sure audiences want that to be made so apparent.

This almost got me thinking when Charles Bronson was doing the Death Wish movies there was nary a mention of his age and he was pushing well into his 70's on the 5th one in the series I think.

 

[SoulManX]

I say it time for a Mega Force reboot!

 

[Octoberist]

We already got the Silva of that franchise.

I love the fact that 'Expendables 2' tried so hard to hide Jean-Claude's puffy eyebags. If he's not wearing those damn sunglasses, his face is always always dimly lit.